I Need Another Computer

I have been working night and day on some design proposals regarding a progressive Christian think tank for CrossLeft. I have spent a great deal of time at the computer trying to put into words the thoughts and ideas that my mind has been churning with. I can get somewhat obsessive at times when I’m working from vision. I share the computer with my fifteen-year-old daughter who had been complaining about her limited access to ebay, live journal, and a few other sites she enjoys.

She asked me with a tone that was bordering on desperate, “Dad, just what exactly are you working on that is soooo important that I can’t get my turn?�

I took a short break and attempted to explain to her that I was putting together some ideas about how to try and bring a more balanced Christian presence into the political arena. We had talked before about how the fundamentalist voice was the most prominently heard and that the image of Christ had suffered because of it.

I went on to share with her my perceptions about the powerful delusion that has seduced many conservative Christians. I elaborated on how they followed their religious leaders into this base cohabitation with politicians of corrupt ideology and now find themselves trapped in a compromised place of bondage to them. She listened intently as I explained my vision for helping to deliver these ideologically oppressed kinsmen by means of powerful truth being established through Christian dialog and debate.

She seemed to grasp that so I moved on to describe the vulnerable condition of our democracy as it hangs in the balance and teeters on tipping into the abyss of oppressive corporate/theocratic rule. I then began to share with her the idea for utilizing volunteer researchers and writers as a prominent resource for the work to be done.

I told her about envisioning prayerful scholars, students, retired people and others receiving divine inspiration for the most noble and innovative policy proposals ever designed for political implementation. I spoke of my hopes for helping to put the separation back in place between the Church and the State and to see the progressive Christian voice rise above the others to inspire the nation to do justly, love mercy, and to walk humbly.

We sat quietly for a few moments as she pondered the weight and the magnitude of my discourse. Then she said, “So, what you’re telling me is time is running out and you’re trying to find a way to save America from being destroyed. Gosh Dad, we’ve got to get another computer.�